Guided Walk With Naval Museum

Admire the baroque landmarks of Karlskrona on an escorted stroll, then explore a trove of maritime history at the Naval Museum. Walking from the pier, you’ll soon be in the heart of this elegant city, facing several of its icons clustered around the main plaza. One that’s hard to miss is enormous and deep red: Admiralty Church has been Sweden’s largest wooden basilica since it opened its sizable doors in 1685. Soon after, the heavily-fortified Aurora Bastion went up, tasked with protecting this strategic harbor. The Naval Museum is a short walk away, and its roots go far back, too. The soul of the museum is the Model Chamber, built in 1752 by order of the King to preserve the detailed models used to test ship construction, features and design techniques. Viewing these magnificent original artifacts provides astounding insight into 18th-century marine engineering. Other museum highlights include a collection of wooden figureheads from Sweden’s most illustrious warships, sunken shipwrecks you can view from an underwater tunnel, and an exhibit exploring navigation before the compasses and GPS. Ancient shipbuilding tools, a medieval sea atlas and actual historic vessels out on the quay add to the wonder here.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Get an overview of Karlskrona landmarks on a guided city walk with some free time for wandering.
• Visit the Naval Museum and be awed by the history assembled in this world-class waterfront venue.
• Spend additional time independently exploring the full range of exhibits inside and outside the museum.
• See a hall filled with original 18th-century shipbuilder’s scale models, and another with magnificent carved wooden bow figureheads.

HELPFUL HINTS
• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.